Warm temperatures and high humidity didn’t keep crowds from attending Herculaneum’s Independence Day celebration Friday, July 3.
An estimated 4,000-5,000 people attended the event at William C. Haggard City Park, 776 Joachim Ave, which was co-hosted by the city of Herculaneum and the Light Up the Sky Foundation, according to Herculaneum City Administrator Logan Jaskiewicz.
The fireworks show celebrated the country’s 250th anniversary, as well as the July 3 birthday of Terry Bates, the late mother of Shad DeBoor, who is the founder of Light Up the Sky Foundation.
The event began in 2021 as a small backyard tribute to Bates, but has grown year after year, expanding to its location at the Bates Memorial Park in Herculaneum.
The park is near the Herculaneum Amvets 42 location, where Terry Bates often volunteered her cooking.
This year’s event kicked off at 5 p.m. with live music by The Generation Band, food trucks and free bounce houses for children.
Braden Briggs of Herculaneum, who brought his 2-year-old son, Mason, said the offerings in the park were perfect for families.
“There are tons of things to do,” Briggs said. “It’s not boring by any means. It’s a great place to bring your little ones, and it’s free.”
As it grew later into the evening, more attendees arrived to set up blankets and lawn chairs, and to enjoy the festivities before the 9:20 p.m. fireworks show.
“There is a lot bigger crowd this year than there was last year,” said Linda Baer of De Soto.
She came with Kim Casey, her long-time friend and former colleague. The pair used to work for Schnucks and would help staff the July 4 event in downtown St. Louis at the Gateway Arch.
Jaskiewicz said the display was one of the largest events the city of Herculaneum has hosted. Despite the large crowd, he says the city’s first responders were not overwhelmed. To prepare, organizers met with Herculaneum Police Chief Sharia Kyle and Fire Chief Kevin Baker, making sure to have many first responders available. He said that is an advantage to hosting an event on July 3.
“(Our first responders) don’t feel like they’re missing out on that family time,” Jaskiewicz said.
Bumps in the road
DeBoor, the Light Up the Sky founder, said the fireworks show faced several unexpected challenges, starting with a downpour while they were setting up for the show earlier in the day.
Then, just before the expected start time, a spectator had a medical emergency near the fireworks shooting area at Bates Park. The emergency pushed back the beginning of the show from its expected start time of 9:20 p.m. to 9:35 p.m.
Once the fireworks began, DeBoor encountered his third challenge about halfway through the pyromusical show, which synchronizes fireworks in time with specially selected music. The app DeBoor was using suddenly crashed and had to be restarted.
Unfortunately, due to the nature of the app, DeBoor could not simply resume the show from where the app had crashed. It had to be restarted from the beginning for the music to match up with the fireworks once they recommenced. This information was difficult to communicate with those out of earshot from the speakers, such as those watching from across the river at Haggard Park.
The 10- to 15-minute gap in fireworks led many people to believe the show was over, and some people left before the conclusion of the show. However, once the music caught back up, the fireworks restarted for a second half of the show.
DeBoor said he was sorry about the technical issues but hoped the crowd was still wowed by the show, which he started planning on July 5 of last year.
“There will never be a perfect show,” he said. “Fireworks don’t go off and small malfunctions happen, and usually the people watching will never know the difference. But next year, we will have a whole new system in place that will help us out and grow the show bigger. Thank you all for making my mom’s birthday celebration a night to remember!”
The organizers already have their eyes set on an even larger display for next year. The team will have access to a higher-tier commercial fireworks license in 2027, allowing for larger fireworks.
Jaskiewicz said there are plans in the works to find a larger, louder PA system so as many attendees can hear the music as possible.
“Seeing the thousands of residents and families and visitors enjoying the music, the food, the activities and the fireworks made all the planning worth it,” Jaskiewicz said. “We’re real grateful to everyone who attended, the vendors, the volunteers, the city staff and the first responders who made this possible.”
Click to see more photos of the event:
